Sect_12.3.3

TRENDS IN GPS APPLICATIONS

There will be a blurring of the distinctions between GPS navigation, surveying and geodesy.
The number of civilian users will continue to grow, compared to the number of military users --> the ratio is currently 9:1 and will increase.
GPS will facilitate the "position information society" --> where location will be a common and useful piece of information for everyday activities.
"Consumer-based" GPS products will make up approximately 50% of the market within the next few years.

Expanding range of applications as the cost of hardware drops.
GPS will be the primary navigation tool for air, land and sea travel.
Largest market will be for land vehicles, for ITS applications --> many applications, from autonomous navigation to "fleet management".
GPS will likely become an insignificant component of larger and more complex system --> e.g. "fleet monitoring", "Intelligent Transportation System", "Future Air Navigation System", etc.
The elimination of Selective Availability will make possible absolute positioning accuracy at the 10-20 metre level.
DGPS use will expand however, requiring the establishment of transmitting base stations.
GPS and Map Display technology will converge into new navigation products --> e.g. ITS, Electronic Chart Systems, etc.
Satellite communications will play a large role in GPS and DGPS applications --> particularly for sea and air applications.
Wide-Area DGPS will be refined, and encroach on Local-Area DGPS.
Increasing use of low-cost handheld receivers used for geo-coding (data capture) in support of GIS applications.
Increasing integration of GPS with other navigation sensors --> e.g. GPS and Dead Reckoning systems.

GPS will be a commonly used technique for all surveys, especially for distances greater than about 5km.
GPS surveying applications will expand into the engineering and cadastral areas --> changes in Surveyors' law may be required.
Increased use of "non-conventional" positioning techniques --> e.g. new methodologies using GPS survey receivers, but also increased use of low-cost handheld receivers for submetre accuracy applications.
Base station operation will be increasingly supported --> post-processing as well as real-time mode.
Increasing use of precise single point positioning techniques based on IGS orbit and satellite clock correction products.
The World Wide Web will play an ever increasing role for GPS "transactions", including access to base station data, baseline reduction services, etc.
GPS deformation surveys --> engineering structures, earthquake and volcanic zones, etc.
Mixing of GPS survey receivers will no longer be unusual.
More and more applications will be addressed in real-time.
Precision airborne GPS will be used extensively for remote sensing, airborne geophysics and photogrammetry.
Refinement of one-epoch carrier phase positioning --> no longer a distinction between static and kinematic surveying.

A viable tool for 3rd or 4th order levelling.
A viable tool for checking conventional levelling networks.
Increased range of geoid computation packages and/or geoid map products will be available.
Research effort directed towards attaining 0.01ppm height accuracies in GPS geodesy --> for monitoring sea level rise, subsidence of land, etc.

Accuracies at the few 0.01ppm level will become routine.
GPS geodesy will play the dominant role in geodynamic studies.
GPS will be used for other non-positioning applications such as ionosphere monitoring and the determination of tropospheric conditions --> GPS "meteorology"!
GPS geodesy will be performed using permanent GPS networks, as well as the traditional "campaign-style" survey.
GPS geodesy will play the dominant role in geodynamic studies.
The IGS will support all precise GPS surveys.
Improvements in instrumentation, reference system definition (ITRS), global tracking (IGS), observation modelling and network design.
All of these will require greater partnership between academics, researchers, government survey organisations, instrument manufacturers --> GPS geodesy will be less the prerogative of a select band of experts, and the government agencies will take on more of the role.
More frequent GPS campaigns for geodynamic studies, at a lower cost and on a local area basis --> with IGS there is no need for orbit computation!
Software refinements to make data reduction easier --> data processing is the biggest bottleneck at present.
Permanent arrays or networks of precision GPS receivers operating 24hr/day --> on global, continental, national and local scales for different applications.